Castle Howard walled garden, and a distant Satyr Gate.

Plein air watercolour sketch 22 x15 inches.

Although sketched at Castle Howard I finished the painting at home. It is loosely done and the problem I had with this was that the main borders had gone over. Lots of green and too few flowers. Not really a suitable subject however it shows how all trips are not always as successful as we would want. The two pots contained lobelia and a geranium and were, in fact "moved" from closer to me as I sketched. It was a hot day again and the air was filled with excited sounds of children rushing here and there. The pond marked a crossroads to the main paths and it contained some very large carp. When the children spotted them they would point and even lay down to get a closer view. Later, at the restaurant we took advantage of the fine warm weather to have a snack outside. This led to a chance meeting with an ex colleague from Beverley Grammar School. We all had a lovely reminisce sitting together with swallows and house martins flying past before we all moved on.